Genome Evolution in Fungal Pathogens

A special issue of Microorganisms (ISSN 2076-2607). This special issue belongs to the section "Systems Microbiology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 December 2020) | Viewed by 3096

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
MRC Centre for Medical Mycology, University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK
Interests: genomics; evolution; mycology; epigenetics; mechanisms of virulence

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Guest Editor
The Broad Insitute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA
Interests: genomics; evolution; medical mycology; host-pathogen interactions; drug resistance
University of Exeter, Stocker Road, Exeter EX4 4QD, UK
Interests: gene expression; network biology; systems biology; fungi; pathogenesis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fungal pathogens are of growing interest owing to their high mortality rates in primarily immune-suppressed patients. Fungal pathogens are also responsible for a variety of important diseases of plants and wildlife, causing worldwide losses of staple crops and biodiversity. Reducing and preventing fungal outbreaks, and their associated morbidity and mortality rates will require a greater understanding of the genomics underpinning their ecology, mechanisms of virulence and host adaption, and increasing antifungal resistance. In recent years, fungal genomics has seen major developments owing to advances in sequencing, computational and software developments, and increased knowledge of population structures and gene function. Together, this provides broad and detailed insights into the molecular basis for pathogenicity across a range of fungal pathogens.

The aim of this Special Issue of Microorganisms is to present a collection of articles that provide a current snapshot of the research in fungal pathogen genome evolution. Manuscripts covering all aspects of research relating to fungal genomics are welcome, including pathogens of humans, animals or plants. Studies using genomics, transcriptomics or epigenetics to explore genome evolution are encouraged, as will efforts to better understand virulence factors and drug resistance mechanisms, or broader questions addressing pathogenesis or the epidemiology of these organisms.

Dr. Rhys Farrer
Dr. Jose F. Munoz
Dr. Ryan Ames
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • genome evolution
  • genomics
  • transcriptomics
  • epigenetics
  • fungal pathogens
  • virulence factors
  • epidemiology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 2103 KiB  
Article
Systematic Analysis of Functionally Related Gene Clusters in the Opportunistic Pathogen, Candida albicans
by Sarah Asfare, Reem Eldabagh, Khizar Siddiqui, Bharvi Patel, Diellza Kaba, Julie Mullane, Umar Siddiqui and James T. Arnone
Microorganisms 2021, 9(2), 276; https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms9020276 - 28 Jan 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2691
Abstract
The proper balance of gene expression is essential for cellular health, organismal development, and maintaining homeostasis. In response to complex internal and external signals, the cell needs to modulate gene expression to maintain proteostasis and establish cellular identity within its niche. On a [...] Read more.
The proper balance of gene expression is essential for cellular health, organismal development, and maintaining homeostasis. In response to complex internal and external signals, the cell needs to modulate gene expression to maintain proteostasis and establish cellular identity within its niche. On a genome level, single-celled prokaryotic microbes display clustering of co-expressed genes that are regulated as a polycistronic RNA. This phenomenon is largely absent from eukaryotic microbes, although there is extensive clustering of co-expressed genes as functional pairs spread throughout the genome in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. While initial analysis demonstrated conservation of clustering in divergent fungal lineages, a comprehensive analysis has yet to be performed. Here we report on the prevalence, conservation, and significance of the functional clustering of co-regulated genes within the opportunistic human pathogen, Candida albicans. Our analysis reveals that there is extensive clustering within this organism—although the identity of the gene pairs is unique compared with those found in S. cerevisiae—indicating that this genomic arrangement evolved after these microbes diverged evolutionarily, rather than being the result of an ancestral arrangement. We report a clustered arrangement in gene families that participate in diverse molecular functions and are not the result of a divergent orientation with a shared promoter. This arrangement coordinates the transcription of the clustered genes to their neighboring genes, with the clusters congregating to genomic loci that are conducive to transcriptional regulation at a distance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Genome Evolution in Fungal Pathogens)
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